I initially began this post regarding the death of my beloved old man cat, who I had to put down shortly before Thanksgiving (U.S. holiday). It was quite an affair for me.
Then I found out later that my younger brother had died. He was 4 years younger than me. His death was unexpected.
In their own way, they each brought up different things.
My beloved old man cat “Louie,” had to be put down. He was 17 1/2 years old and was rescued from a city pound. His life was much better than the one he faced, with so many kittens there that day (at least I’d like to think in a kill shelter).
Anyway, we’ll start with Louie, since he died first. His full name was Louie Armstrong. I have a musical cat family! I initially got him to keep company of the other cat I had, Ella Fitzgerald, as I was working full time and going to school part time or working part time. I was away from the apartment a lot and I felt bad, hence Louie coming into view.
The last months of his life, he liked to snuggle with me, either on my left shoulder or on my stomach while I sat on the couch. We would just sit there while I watched tv. He was content and so was I as we were snuggling. More on that later.
On to my younger brother. I received a call from my sister telling me that my younger brother had died. It was a Saturday, shortly after Thanksgiving. She tried to explain to me how he died, and I was trying to figure out how this could have happened medically, and it was confusing to me. At any rate, he evidently died of a heart attack.
I was more upset at having to put my cat down than my brother dying. I was much closer to my cat than my brother. I hadn’t seen nor spoken to my brother in a number of years, though we were friends on facebook, along with some of my other siblings, just to keep in touch with them or see what they are up to.
I did find out that there won’t be a service for my brother or several months, most likely due to the winter snowfall that’s happening. At least that provides some time for me to figure out if I want to go if indeed there is some sort of service.
I miss my cat Louie Armstrong more than my brother. After all, Louie spent 17 1/2 years with me. I had more contact with him than my brother.
Of course, my brother’s death brings up family and high school possible interactions, which is a totally another story in itself.
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